The Angling Professional League (APL) hosted its inaugural Open Competition over the weekend.
The event, held at Chelmsford/Ntshingwayo Dam, was hailed a success, owing to the hundreds of anglers who tried to lay their hands on the cash prizes.
In the end, it was Gary Hendricks, of Freespool Angling Club, who prevailed.
Winning the top prizes in both the scaled and non-scaled categories, Gary caught his fish literally in front of the officials at the Sandford Campsite marquee.
He first reeled in a carp of 3,63 kilogrammes.
“Jokingly, he told officials he would be back to weigh his prize-winning barbel, and true to his word, he returned within 10 minutes with a barbel of 3,92kg.”
It was evident the hungry fish could not resist the mealie-grain he used as bait.
He thus scooped the top prize in the two aforementioned sections, bagging R12 000 and R8 000 respectively.
The two anglers joining Gary in the top three were S Dookie and A Praag.
In the non-scaled categories, U Umarparsadh and Y Cassim finished in second and third respectively, following Gary’s massive haul.
Reflecting on the competition, APL President, Matthew Shunmugam expressed his joy.
“The APL was overwhelmed by the huge turnout, as this was its first open day competition in a long while, as traditional open competitions take place at night.”
Initial apprehension at the turnout proved to be unfounded.
Some patrons were queuing at the main gates as early as Thursday morning, waiting for the cast-off almost three days later.
“The executive and APL members express their sincere appreciation and gratitude to all patrons, sponsors, donors and all others who contributed towards the success of the competition.”
The next competition of the APL is the VME League Four, to be hosted on January 10 at Richgate Park.
Prospective APL members can collect membership forms from Mohamed’s Midas.
“The APL has seen a phenomenal growth in its membership this season, and continues to grow with each competition.”
